Strange Victory
by shego219
Summary: Someone suspicious is killing Nathan and someone familiar flies in to save him. My version of how Peter returns. AU
1. Chapter 1

Strange Victory 

Summary: Someone suspicious is killing Nathan and someone familiar flies in to save him. My version on how Peter returns.

Basically a one-shot stretched out for four chapters

Contains pieces borrowed from the poem "Strange Victory" by Sara Teasdale

**1**

The entire city was ablaze.

Nathan's nightmares were starting to come true. His family, everyone he loved, knew and cared about, was falling apart piece by piece. And just when he thought he couldn't take it anymore, the phantom force came after Nathan himself.

_To this, to this, after my hope was lost,_

_To this strange victory;_

Blood on his hands, blood on his face, running down his arms in twin rivers. The hooded figure standing over him let out something akin to a growl, forced laughter. His face was obscured by shadows, distorted further by the blood dripping in Nathan's eyes.

_How is he doing this to me?_ Nathan's thoughts jumped back to his mother's brutal attack at the police station, how Officer Parkman had come to the rescue at the last minute. _Oh how I could use my own hero right now._

Nathan felt himself being hauled upright, being led to the edge of the building. He couldn't force himself to look down; he was beginning to feel an overwhelming sense of déjà vu.

He felt a shove from his attacker and he was airborne, plummeting into the night. Nathan shouted. Everything was happening in slow motion. He was too disoriented to fly; the loss of blood had caused his head to start spinning back up on the roof. Nathan was powerless – there was nothing for him to do but wait for impact and pray for God to take him.

The impact came first. Nathan swore as a ghostlike force crushed into his side, pushing the air from his lunges. But the force didn't intensify – it seemed to wrap around his waist, willing Nathan to remain in the sky. That's when he noticed – they were still in the air.

The stranger's attempt failed, and, for the second time that night, Nathan spiraled toward the street below.


	2. Chapter 2

Thanks for all the reviews, updates, etc.! I'm hurrying to finish this before any more happens on the show!

**2**

_To find you with the living, not the dead,_

_To find you glad of me;_

The other figure appeared, becoming visible as he hit the pavement, back first. Nathan landed on top of him, eliciting groans from both men. The stranger had cushioned his blow; Quickly, Nathan rolled over onto his side, clutching his newly-mangled elbow. He was almost afraid to see if the other man was…

_Alive_? Sure enough, the man was no longer on his back but on his stomach, pushing himself up into a crouching position on his knees. His head was still bent in agony, but Nathan could still tell that the stranger was younger than himself. The back of his dark head was drenched in blood, matching the stain Nathan now noticed on the pavement.

"Are you okay?" Nathan asked cautiously. His voice rang out in the deserted street. He could see a new fire blazing from a nearby building as sirens blared and faded into the background.

"No," the man wheezed. "I broke my fucking spine." And as Nathan watched, the other man arched his back painfully and popped every single vertebrae back into place.

But it was his voice that really caught Nathan's attention.

"Why did you save me?" Nathan asked, panic and fear coloring his voice. Half of him couldn't believe this could be happening; the other half would die all over again if it wasn't.

The younger hero was sitting up now, but Nathan still couldn't get a good look at him. His head was still turned away, as if he was studying the inferno creeping toward them.

"Because I could," the stranger finally answered, confused but sure. He couldn't say himself why he had come. The man being attacked had held no significance… or did he?

"Peter?" Nathan called, a last ditch attempt to prove his hopes weren't in vain.

"How do you know- " Peter turned to look at the man he had just saved, and their eyes locked.

The gaze was fatal - in more ways than one.

Peter's physical world flipped, in a similar fashion as his emotions, in an instant. For one fraction of a second he was looking at his forgotten brother's smiling face; he blinked and an icy hand was clamped around his throat, cutting off his oxygen supply.

"A touching reunion," the hooded figure hissed, hoisting Peter up so his feet dangled above the ground. "But our fight is just beginning."


	3. Chapter 3

I know I said I was trying to finish this soon, but I thought I should add some to this chapter since it was kind of confusing. Again, thank you thank you for the reviews!

**3**

A loud crackle rent the air as a building to the trio's left collapsed in flames. Inspired by the lethal energy, Peter grabbed his attacker's wrists and released a violent blast of electricity. The man flew backwards, temporarily stunned by his electrocution, releasing Peter's neck in the act.

Tripping backwards, Peter fell into Nathan, who had stood up, ready to jump the hooded figure holding his brother. The two plowed into a nearby wall which, having already been charred, gave way under their weight, sending the duo crashing to the floor.

Peter shielded his face with his arms in an attempt to avoid the falling debris their collision had created. He was back on his feet in a matter of seconds, gulping for oxygen.

Nathan, on the other hand, wasn't so lucky. Peter jumped back to his brother's aid, checking his pulse, which he was relieved to find easily beneath his fingers, and looking for serious surface injuries. That was when he noticed the heavy wooden beam near Nathan's head, which appeared to be responsible for the gash on his temple.

_He got hurt trying to protect_ me. Peter mentally kicked himself for forgetting his own brother, even if he wasn't responsible for the amnesia. But it was almost over now. There was just one more thing he needed to take care of.

Peter dragged Nathan to what he deemed a safer area of the wreckage before sprinting out into the street to once again meet his opponent.

It was some time before Nathan fully awoke.

_To find you wounded even less than I,_

_Moving as I across the stricken plain;_

"Peter? Peter!" Nathan's bellowing filled the fiery streets. He decided he must have blacked out when the hooded figure returned, and now his brother was nowhere to be found, though he distinctly remembered a familiar pair of sneakered feet running past him while he was on the ground.

Without thinking, Nathan turned and bolted into a demolished building. He could hear someone shouting for him, probably Parkman, or another cop trying to fend off trespassers. But he was getting closer now, he knew it.

Nathan stopped. The roof of the building he was in had burned away, revealing a myriad of shining stars overhead. But Nathan's eyes remained on the two figures who lay motionless at his feet.


	4. Chapter 4

Apologies; first of all, for not giving the hooded guy a name since I don't know who it is on the show (yet); second, for this being the last chapter. I wrote it all in one day, so I'm surprised it stretched it out this far already. I'm in the early stages of planning another "Heroes" fic, but in the meantime…

**4**

_After the battle to have found your voice,_

_Lifted above the slain_

Peter stirred. His vision was blotched and blurred, but he could tell he was on the ground. Something, or maybe someone, lay next to him, reeking of burned flesh. He vaguely remembered pulling his attacker through the wall of ash and fire. It should have killed them both.

Ignoring the hooded man lying next to Peter, Nathan knelt beside his brother's body, holding back tears. He had already lost him once – the second time would be even more unbearable. At least he would be able to say goodbye this time, know where the body was and have a proper funeral…

"Nathan…" Peter reached out, searching for him in his throes of darkness.

With a momentary start, Nathan leaned forward and grasped his brother's outstretched hand. Realizing there was a crumpled piece of paper in his fist, Nathan transferred the scrap to his own hand. He uncrumpled the sheet to discover himself and Peter grinning back. A photograph, taken what seemed almost forever ago.

Looking back at Peter, Nathan was met with a familiar wry smile. Moving closer, he knelt and propped Peter up in his arms.

"You knew my name," was all Peter croaked. It was all he needed to say. His eyes closed, but Nathan was relieved to note his breathing remained steady. His brother would live to see another day.

As the wreckage increased and the city decayed, Nathan picked up his wayward brother, carrying him back the way he came, his sooty face blemished by the paths his tears had run. No one would believe this unless he showed them. Peter was back to save them.

Somewhere in the back of Nathan's mind, a voice rang out, one that had always been there – he had somehow managed to suppress it, kept it hidden. But there was no need to anymore.

His mind's truth ran out in time with the midnight church bells, like a broken record:

_I told you he would come back. I told you so._


End file.
